Last week, SophosLabs published a technical paper about ransomware called SamSam that has been setting a new trend in how ransomware attacks unfold.

The SamSam criminals are targeting fewer victims, but aiming for much greater disruption each time an attack succeeds – so the crooks end up with a bigger hold over you, and can set about squeezing you for a bigger payment.

The typical SamSam recovery price seems to be an eye-watering $45,000 – we don’t know how the bad guys hit on that number, but we’ve guessed it’s to get the price as high as they dare without asking for so much that the payment needs a board meeting to get company approval.

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